


Touch

by WithYouTillTheEndOfTheShield



Series: Radio Silence [5]
Category: Alien Series, Aliens (1986)
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-21 19:28:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3703057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WithYouTillTheEndOfTheShield/pseuds/WithYouTillTheEndOfTheShield
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The five times Hicks felt her touch. </p><p>And the one time he didn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Touch

She's running inventory across the room from him, and he needs an excuse to talk to her. Adams has been shooting him those shit-eating grins since they woke up from Hypersleep, like she knows exactly what he's thinking. Thankfully, she doesn't. Because if she knew _exactly_ what he was thinking she'd be threatening to cut off vital parts of his anatomy. 

Hicks hoists the three pulse rifles up a little bit, evening out the weight in his arms before he walks over in her direction. She doesn't seem to have noticed him when he passes her, dumping the rifles into the crate nearby and dusting off his hands. She's perched on top of a pulse cannon like it's nothing, one leg folded over the other daintily. "You know what that is?"

She looks up from her pad, and follows where he's pointing, looking down at the machinery below her. "Pulse Cannon AP-55. Why?"

"Not a lot of people I know that would park their ass on it, that's all."

"Well apparently you don't know a lot of people who know that this thing?" She taps it with her pen. "Isn't filled with anything right now."

He chuckles, admittedly impressed at her cool counter. She smiles gently before going back to her paperwork, but the pen slips from between her fingers and clatters to the ground. It rolls to a stop right in front of him, and he stoops to pick it up straight away. She thanks him when he passes it across, and as their fingers brush something in his stomach tightens uncomfortably. She's got hands that aren't particularly feminine, but are tiny in comparison to his. And warm too, he can feel the warmth radiating from her hand as he passes the pen to her.  

"Thanks, Hicks." She says, that shy little smile creeping across her face again. 

 

 

She's exhausted, looks like shit. Hypersleep can be a bitch, especially one as long as this. She took forever to even get out of her pod, and as she's not strictly speaking a Marine, Apone just left her to it. She stumbled into the locker room a couple of minutes after everyone else, gripping her head and brushing off Adams' concerns. She's still getting changed now, pulling her shirt on and buttoning it up with unusual concentration. He's taking his sweet old time too, taking particular care with lacing up his boots. He's keeping one eye on her while he does it, watching as she struggles to pull on her pants. 

He stands, admitting to himself that wasting anymore time in there with her would look creepy, before going to walk past her. She stands, and he hears the little 'oh' that comes out of her mouth before she stumbles. 

And he's there in an instant, ready to catch her. She sinks into his arms almost in slow motion, grabbing onto his shoulders for support while he lowers her back down onto the bench. "Thanks."

"No problem." His shoulders are practically burning from her touch, but he doesn't want her to let go. She doesn't. "Rough Hypersleep?"

"The worst." She murmurs, finally removing one hand to place it against her own forehead. "I'll be fine in a couple of hours."

"You sure you don't want me to get your to your quarters?" He asks, realizing his hands are still on either side of her waist. She hasn't pointed it out, so he doesn't move them. 

"No, I should probably eat something." She makes to stand up, but sways dangerously, and he's glad he didn't move his hands, because it means he can guide her back down to the (relative) safety of the bench. "Later."

"You want me to stay with you?" He asks, and she peeks at him from behind the hand that's pressed against her face. 

"Would you?"

 

 

She's in the cabin of the APC, shaking like a terrified child, her eyes straight ahead, still driving them forwards. He calls her name, but she doesn't answer. He lowers his hand over hers, completely covering it like he thought it might, and tries to ease down on the throttle. He's calling out to her, telling her that they're clear, telling her to ease down. His voice gets softer as they come to a halt, but she doesn't stop shaking. Doesn't move or look at him. She's terrified. 

He pries her hands off the controls gently, and for once they're freezing cold. She's still not responding, and, worried, he tips her head up. She throws herself at him, catching him off guard. But it's nice. His hands come to rest on her back as he brings her in close, hugging her shaking body, if only for a few seconds before he has to pull back. She doesn't want him to pull away, he can tell from the way her grip around his middle tightens a little. But he murmurs something, he's not even sure what, and she allows him to move. He steps away from her, looks back at her, waits for the little smile to signify she's OK. 

And it's there. The corners of her mouth twitch into that nervous half smile, one which he returns. And then his mindset switches. He's back to being Corporal Hicks. There are others in the APC waiting for his command. 

 

 

"Let me introduce you to a personal friend of mine."

Her eyes are wide, fascinated as he explains the gun. When he pushes it into her hands he's impressed to see her hold it nearly perfectly. "How do I use it?"

She's tucked into his body, his chest pressed flush against her back, so he can feel it every time she breathes. Her hair tickles his nose, and as she manouvers the gun a little in her hands their arms bump against each other. There's so much body heat radiating between the two of them, and as he pushes her forwards, just a little bit, pushes his face close to hers so he can talk in her ear, he can't help but think that this is some kind of foreplay. He almost misses what she says about the grenade launcher, but tunes in just as her face turns a little bit closer to his. She challenges him to teach her everything, and he chuckles. She really is impressive.

Their faces are so close together now though, that he can feel the warm air of her breathing. His eyes flicker to her lips, just for a moment, and he sees that they're parted ever so slightly. He tries to remind himself that now is _not_ the time, and that if Adams or Hudson walk in and see them they'll never hear the end of it, but he just wants to kiss -

They hear a nearby door slide open, and both snap back to attention instantly. By the time Vasquez walks in to tell them Gorman's awake, the scene looks perfectly innocuous.

 

 

"You don't have to go down there."

She's going down there with Ripley to get the kid. He's holding onto her sleeve, trying to tell her without using any words that he doesn't want her to leave. Not now, not when they're so close to escaping. Not when they're so close to living. Not with those _things_  closing in on them. 

"We've got to get her out, Hicks. You can find us with the tracker, right?"

That's not the point, he wants to scream. The point is that he's lost enough people today, and he sure as hell doesn't want to add her to the list. Not with Adams out of her mind about Hudson already. He needs her with him.

But then she surprises him again, catches him off guard so that he nearly drops his gun. She leans forward and pushes her lips against his, sliding the fingers of one hand into his hair and cupping his face with the other. Her lips are soft and warm against his, and although this is a less than desirable situation for a kiss, it's desperate and it's hot and it's needy, and he wouldn't have it any other way. 

He grabs her side with one hand, pulling her in tighter for a few seconds before they part. Her breathing's heavier now, and so is his, but he doesn't care. "I'm coming for you, okay? Don't do anything stupid."

"I won't." She promises him, and then she's gone.

 

 

He sees the acid hit his armor, and there are a brief few seconds where nothing happens. And then intense, blinding pain. She struggles with Ripley to pull it off him, and they toss it to one side of the elevator. But it's too late, and they all know it. He can't stand, not even with their help, and even with them trying to move him he's in agony, and they only get a few feet down the corridor before they have to stop. He tells them both to leave him, and they both stubbornly tell him to shut up. But after a minute of arguing Ripley gives in, tells them she'll be on the dropship, or getting Newt. 

She stays with him. Cries over his body as he dies on the floor. He can't feel anything, can't see anything either, the acid hit his eyes. All he can hear is her sobbing, telling him that she's sorry, that she should have gotten the suit off sooner. But he can't comfort her, he's too weak. Can't feel it as she cups his face, can't feel it when she kisses him. 

But he does hear his motion tracker going crazy beside them. He tries to warn her past the haze of pain and acid, but she's crying too loudly. She's too upset, she doesn't hear the tracker. Doesn't hear the alien moving down the corridor either. 

He can't warn her to get out and save herself. All he can do is listen. In the darkness he hears her terrified scream, and then even that fades into nothing. He isn't aware that this is dying, but he knows the pain is fading. And then her screams stop, and the pain disappears. And he fades into the abyss of nothing. 


End file.
